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“When I first moved to Koreatown, the Asian American arts scene was lacking. It inspired me to throw events and plant the seeds of a subculture,” Kwon said. “We created the audience.”
The turning point came in 2005, when the group organized Movementality, a hip-hop night to benefit a Koreatown drug rehabilitation center. Looking for people to spread the word, FM turned to its future manager, Carl Choi, a Hong Kong-born, Koreatown-raised promoter who had built an extensive network of Asian club nights that at one point extended to 13 cities. He also was involved with promotions and management for Jin, the Ruff Ryders-signed, BET freestyle champion, who until that point had been the most successful Asian American rapper in history.
“Before FM, Asian artists often lacked the authenticity and support of the Asian community,” Choi said. “If a Latino guy sees Jin or FM on screen, the first person they’ll turn to to find out whether or not they’re credible will be their closest Asian friend. It was about building an attachment to our fans in order for them to grow with the group.”
FM soon entered the sights of filmmaker Justin Lin, who used the band’s track “Round Round” in his 2006 feature “The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.” The song also appeared on the movie’s soundtrack and a related video game.
“We took the money and invested it into a music video, which got over a million views,” said Prohgress. “It gave us legitimacy. People would start referring to us Far East Movement, as featured in the ‘Fast and Furious’ soundtrack.”
The director of “Better Luck Tomorrow,” the 2002 independent film that helped redefine racial paradigms of Asian Americans in popular culture, Lin sees the Far East Movement as kindred spirits of sorts. Yet he stressed that their success owes only to their creative abilities.
“Talent and hard work always transcend race,” said Lin, who was born in Taipei but grew up in Orange County. “It was and will always be about the music and its connection with the audience.”
When “Round Round” became a breakout hit, the part-time rappers realized that music could be a full-time career. Prohgress, the son of a piano teacher and a radio show host, dropped out of Loyola Law School to pursue his art, a decision to which his parents vigorously objected.
“After I quit law school, I’d come home to visit and my mom wouldn’t even leave the piano room to say hello,” said Prohgress, who later opted to finish his degree.
J-Spliff (born Jae Choung) worked as a Burbank office manager by day and played shows and recorded at night. He was confident that his parents would scoff at his aspirations; his family learned about his musical endeavors only when they spotted him on Korean television two years ago.
“Los Angeles has the largest Korean population outside of Korea, so whatever media they receive over there, we get here,” said Choung. “We did videos and newspaper interviews for the Korean market, and one day my parents caught the feed of us doing a promo tour in Korea. I thought they were going to throw things at me, but they were more surprised than anything.”


In 2007, the three founding members invited DJ Virman into the fold. It was a savvy move that not only brought them a venerable local DJ but also opened up a world of contacts through his brother DJ E-Man, assistant program director at Power 106 and DJ on the national radio program “Big Boy’s Neighborhood.”
That access and related airplay helped break a pair of singles — “You’ve Got a Friend,” featuring Mexican American rapper Baby Bash, and the car-culture ode “Lowridin”, from the group’s independently produced debut “Folk Music” — earning Far East Movement a following in the Latino community. Its songs also were featured in such TV series as “CSI: Miami” and the VH1 reality show “The Pickup Artist.”
Jin recruited the group to produce his 2007 Cantonese-language debut, “ABC Jin,” which went platinum in its first week, making it the highest-selling debut album in Hong Kong history.
“They’ve built their brand from the ground up,” Jin said. “From Day One, they’ve always been about good music that appeals to all walks of life. They’re not intentionally setting out to redefine the role of Asians or break stereotypes, they just do it by virtue of being good artists.”
The independent release last year of the band’s sophomore effort, “Animal,” which featured “Girls on the Dance Floor,” further elevated Far East Movement’s profile. Produced by the Stereotypes, the single, a pulsing house track, augurs a return to hip-hop’s disco roots and places it squarely within the contemporary zeitgeist of dance floor-focused rap, a genre that Choi calls “hiptronica.” The pop shift positioned the group well for mass appeal. Martin Kierszenbaum, head of A&R at Interscope and the chairman of Cherrytree Records, the Interscope subsidiary that recently signed FM, sees the group as a part of the continuum of his imprint’s progressive pop stars, including Lady Gaga, Feist and Flipsyde.
“Pop isn’t supposed to be a dirty word; it’s a craft and an art form, and FM are pushing the envelope of pop music within the hip-hop tradition,” said Kierszenbaum, who plans to release FM’s major-label debut next year. “Their ‘hiptronica’ sound is exciting and new, and they’re great songwriters. They represent the future kind of kid, one that’s more inclusive, who lives on the Internet. I think they have huge global potential.”
– Jeff Weiss